GREY HAIR, DO CARE

Since going bleach blonde in July, I’ve became rather educated on the process and what I need to put into my hair both at the salon and at home to get the shade I want.

Obviously, the colour started off far more yellow than the look I was going for (I’d call it the ideal Orange County platinum, if that makes it easier to visualize), but that was to be expected as I didn’t want to over-process it right off the bat.

When I went in to get my roots done the first time, we brought the shade to a whiter blonde–exactly where I wanted it. However, I soon learned that even using purple shampoo, my hair naturally takes on a yellow-y blonde that I’m not very fond of. So for my next trip, my colourist suggested we add some purpley-grey highlights to make it fade out a little more white. I loved it– the violet tones washed out after about a week, and even after seven weeks, my roots didn’t look so bad in contrast to my still very white-blonde hair.

But, I know better than to leave my roots too long, and went in for a touch up last weekend. She suggested we do my whole head that grey tone we did last time to get an even better lasting result and just for a different look. I ended up with a solid lavender-grey ‘lob’ that is super cool and almost an accessory on it’s own (see Lou Teasdale). I’m just not sure I’m cool enough to match my new hair. Like seriously, I didn’t think such a subtle toning would flip my world upside down.

With my white blonde, I typically stayed away from wearing any white clothing, as it inadvertently always made my hair look slightly yellow. Black was my go-to–it made my hair look freshly bleached, and I just think it looked chic and put-together. But with this grey hair, it’s a whole other story. I’ve been reaching for every white and furry looking piece in my wardrobe! I feel like this shade can take on two looks–one, being the girly, soft look that I’m now trying to go for, or a harsher, more eccentric London-streetstyle-esque look that I just don’t think I can be. Like black! I can’t casually throw on an all black ensemble and run out the door. That outfit is now a statement outfit. It’s wild.

Either way, the lilac-grey is cool and it’s different and I’m gonna try and make the best of it before it washes out. It definitely is a head turner and that can be fun for a little while. However, if I did want to maintain this tone, my colouritst said frequent purple shampooing (and leaving it on for a few minutes) would do the trick.